Just Cruisin'

The first night on board was an enjoyable one, especially for Peter. There was no reason for him to don his Spider-Man costume to go out on patrol around a neighborhood and bust up some kind of smuggling ring… or go out on a mission with his fellow Avengers. But he did miss something that he enjoyed doing, web swinging. Something about swinging several stories above the ground with the wind brushing past you was exhilarating to him. Even though he had his costume with him, Peter doubted he could do any web swinging while on the ship.

Mary Jane was also enjoying it as well because this was the first time in a good long time that she and Peter got to spend a significant amount of time with each other. So far she was having a great time despite the cruise being only a day old. Their dinner the previous night and breakfast that morning had been wonderful. Now they were poolside soaking up the sun.

"This is fantastic." Mary Jane lay on a towel-covered lounge chair in her navy blue one-piece swimsuit.

"I know what you mean, MJ," Peter replied as he sat next to her while in a baggy pair of crimson trunks. "By the way, what is on the agenda this afternoon?"

"Well, there's lunch and shuffleboard."

"Ha ha, very funny, Mary Jane. I'm not quite over the hill yet."

"I know that, sweetie, I was just kidding. Any way, besides the usual swimming or using the ship's gym, the cruise has a few things planned for their passengers to enjoy. But for the life of me, I can't remember what they are."

They both laughed at that.

Peter asked once he finished laughing, "And why is that?"

"I believe spending some much needed quality time with my husband has affected my memory," answered Mary Jane with a playful grin.

Peter then got off his lounger and planted a kiss on his wife's lips.

"So do you wanna grab some lunch and then figure out what to do next?"

"Sure," replied Mary Jane as she and Peter gathered their things to head to the dining area.

Now that his vibro-shock devices were assembled and functional, Shocker was now ready to implement his plan. This was a gutsy scheme, even for him but if he got what he wanted out of this, Shocker would be set for life, as would his men. So far, everything had worked out perfectly. All that was left to do was to check out all the bombs that were located throughout the ship, arm them and to finally make their demands.

The planning for this operation was very well thought out. Executing it to the desired outcome was a whole other matter.

I'm freakin' glad that we aren't doing something of this magnitude in New York, thought Shocker as he looked over the blueprints of the cruise ship.

There were areas on the diagram marked with an 'X' which were the locations of the bombs. Today's task was for him and his men to arm all of them. Once armed, Shocker's handheld detonator would light up for each particular bomb. This particular device would allow him to either set the bombs off one at a time or detonate them all at once. The preference was the former but if there was a need, he would blow the entire ship up. Satisfied with how things looked on the blueprint, he put it away and began to contact his cohorts.

In minutes, they all had gathered in Shocker's cabin. He thought it would be better to meet there so that they could talk freely.

"Good day, gentlemen. You know what we have to do today," Shocker told them as they gathered around. "The device in my hand here will tell me that you have completed your task. If there are no questions…"

"When are we going to actually set the plan in motion?" one of the men asked.

"Tomorrow night there's a costume party and that's when we'll inform everyone what our intentions are. If there's a problem amongst the passengers and crew, handle it any way you see fit but I'll let you know if killing is an option. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," they all replied.

"Now, if there are no further questions, get to work."

After a quick change of clothes followed by a delicious lunch, Peter and Mary Jane spent part of their afternoon walking around the ship.

"You know, MJ, I didn't think a cruise ship could be this big," Peter mentioned as they took a break from walking, leaned over the rails and enjoyed the view of the ocean.

"Uh huh, and the air out here is so very fresh," added Mary Jane as she joined Peter by the ship's rails.

"Way better than what it is back home."

"Most definitely."

"But, there is something about the city that you can't find on the open…" Peter abruptly stopped what he was about to say, and began to look around.

"What's the matter, Peter?" Mary Jane asked curiously.

In a hushed voice, Peter answered, "My spider-sense just started to buzz all of a sudden. It started as a light tingling sensation but it has slowly gotten stronger. It's as if something that's triggering it is coming closer."

Peter took a quick look out towards the water but saw nothing, therefore ruling that out. Then both he and Mary Jane scanned behind them. People were out and about on deck enjoying their day and the sun. It didn't take long for Peter to spot who was causing his spider-sense to go off.

"MJ, do you see a man in a light blue jacket heading towards one of the entrances back in the ship?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Mary Jane replied as she took a quick glance. "He activated your spider sense?"

"That's right and I'm going to find out why. Just stay here, MJ, I'll be right back."

"Be careful, sweetheart."

Peter gave her a reassuring nod and peck on the check before he went after the guy who set off his spider-sense. This would be so much easier if there weren't so many people around and if I was in costume, thought Peter. He tried his best under the circumstances to stay as close to the man as possible without being seen.

The man that Peter was following stopped and turned suddenly. Peter quickly ducked out of sight around a corner so he wouldn't be spotted. Luckily there was a reflective piece of artwork that he could use to see why the man stopped. His answer came when another man joined the one Peter was following. He then peeked out from around the corner to see what was going on.

It was then that Peter's spider-sense really began to tingle. The new guy briefly flashed a concealed weapon and his compatriot noticed this as well. Scolding his buddy for it, the guy Peter followed helped his friend to conceal it again and looked around to see if anyone noticed.

With spider-like quickness, Peter ducked back out of view. Once again he looked for the pair using the piece of reflective art. Unfortunately, when Peter looked there was no one there and his spider-sense had stopped tingling.

He hurried out of his hiding spot and went to the spot where the two men had met. With a couple of directions they could have gone made it tough for Peter to find out where they went.

"It looks like Spider-Man won't have much of a vacation after all," Peter said as he went back to Mary Jane to tell her what happened.

AN: I encourage everyone who reads this fic to leave a review to let me know what you think of it. Constructive criticism is fine but no flames please.